Street-railway switch.



No. 648,470. Patented May l, I900.

H. M. & C. J. UNDERWODD. STREET RAILWAY SWITCH.

v (Application tiled Oct. 9, 1899.) (no Model.) 2 sheets-sheet l.'

UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

H'ERRERT M. `UNDERwoo'D 'AND o'YRUs J. UNDERwooD, oE ',PITTsRURe,

PENNSYLVANIA. l

A 'STREET-.RAILWAY SWITCH.

. SPECIFICATION forming part-of Letters Patent No. 648,470, dated May 1, ppllcationiiled October 9,1899. SerialN. 733,019. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.:

Be it known that we, HERBERT M. UNDER- woon and CYRUs J. UNDERwooD, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Switching a Street-Car from the Cab by the Motorman, of which the followingl is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.-

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in street railway switches, and has for one of its objects the provision of novel means whereby the switchtongue and other mechanism usually applied to the rail are entirely dispensed with.

Our invention has for its further objectto apply simple and efficient means to the car whereby the car will be permitted to traverse over the mainline or directed'` t0 travel over branch roads or around curves as desired.

Our invention has for its still further obj ect to design mechanism of Vthe. character described that will be simple in its construction, strong, durable, and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and, furthermore, mechanism that will not be liable to become out of order and in which the broken parts rmay be readily placed in psitionin case of an accident.

The invention, briefly described, consists in placinga guard-wheelinfront ofthe wheels of the car, said guard-wheel beingadapted to engage the inner side of the rail, thereby guiding the Wheels of the car in the desired direction.

Furthermore, the invention consists in the new and novel arrangement for the raising and lowering of the guard-wheel, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and specifically pointed outin the claims.

In describing the invention in det-ail reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which* Figure 1 is a top plan view of the main line and branch road. Fig. 2 isa front elevation of the truck equipped with our improvements. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse verticalsectional view of the guard-wheel and bearing. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional View of the eccentric operating the bearing. Fig. 8 is a taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

In the drawings the reference-numerals 1 indicate the rails,and 2 the inner side thereof,

3 indicates the main line, and 4 the branch road.V

The body of they car is designated bythe numeral 5.

6 indicates the platform, 7 the truck, and 8 represents the wheels. j

The reference numeral 9 represents the guard-wheels, said guard -wheels being arranged in front of the wheels of the carin the transverse vertical sectional View of the saine,

'direction in which the car is moving, these wheels being connected-by an axle 10, said axle 10 having arranged thereon collars .11, between which is secured a split ring 12, having formed thereon apertured lugs 13, adapted to receive bolts 14 and nut 15, said ring having upwardly-extending flanges 16 formedA integral therewith and apertured to receive a bolt 17, carrying a washer 18 and nut 19, serving as a pivotal connection in the hanger 20, the latter being rigidly secured to the under face of the car,

The axle 10 operates in bearings 21, arranged on each side or in close proximity'to the guard-wheels, a block 22 being arranged in the Asaid bearings, upon which are placed a spiral spring 23 and a follower 24.` upon said spiral spring. Said bearing is further provided with a cam or eccentric 25, secured therein and adapted to operate against the said follower 24.

The reference-numeral 26 represents the shaft of said eccentric, the latter being pro-` vided with a lever 27, having its lower end bifurcated, as shown at 2S, and adapted to receive an operating-rod 29, which is pivotally connected thereto, said operating-rod being formed of two sections and secured together by means of the turnbuckle 30. The

end of the said operating-rod29 is connected IOO 'v to anoperatin'gk-lever 3K1 and permitted to slide .in a slot 32, formed inthe vlower `end is adapted to serve as locking means for-the operating-lever in the well-known pmai'iiiei'.` V

' ingup'through the platform of the car and is .and allows the axle l0 to rock,and the flange ofthe-'guard-wheel engaging the inner face of i sa,

thereof, the said operating-lever 3l extend-v fulcrumed, as a't'v -A segmental cog-rack 3.4 S'Seured beth@ platform of the car, which A'regulating-screw 35 is secured in the bearing 2l,which `is designed toregulate ward movement of the axle. s Y l The operation of our improved switch mech; anism` is as follows: Normally theguard=; wheels are arranged so asto not' comein'co-n tact-with the rails; but when abranchroad orcurve lis reached the guard-wheels on. one

side of the car are lowered by operating the the downleverhcausingthe operating-rod 29 toY be Y drawn forwardly, the latter communicating movement to'the'lever 27, which. in turn op` l crates the cam, Vthereby depressing theffolv lower andcompressing the spiral spring,

which in turn operates against thebloclf 22 and bears down upon theaXle of the guard-4 -wheels; The bolt 17 forms a pivotal point the rail will naturally guide the wheel of the c ar in the proper channelin case it is desired to traverse over abranch or side line. Whenthe operating-lever is released, theV spiral spring will cause the guard-wheelsto 4again assume their `normal position, `this spring serving a twofold purpose-namely, to equalsaidJshaft, "a follower arranged in eachof hearings-aSpring-womit bearmss mandante@ to engage. n, ,n lower;@eccentric-adapte t0 engage, the saidfspring for lowering the s d' shaft, means Connected. tothe, Said meente@ for .Operating the-Same., and means arranged in each .ot the said `bearingt-irfor limitingthej movement of the said shaft, substantially-as de ed.-

The combination with va c a v securedto the r under face ther lar pivotally connected tot ysaidspringtforlowering the said g'shaft, and

inthe said l the' rails.

4.0 and that the mechanism-may be operated trationwe have shown only one lever.

w Various details` of construction enter the 45 a shaft mounted on the said collar andhav'- ize the mechanisml and further servlng as -a buer in case the car travels over or meetsl with any obstruction that may be found :on

It willbe noted, vof course, that two levers, will be employed, one at each end of the car, y

from either end; but'for the purpose ofillus-l herein described invention, and we have therefore only shown the preferred form of mechanism lfor raising and lowering andV also obtained in various ways; but

What we do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is, broadly'-- v V1. The combination with a car, of a hangerV 2 0Isecured to the underneath face'the'reof, a split collar pivotally con nected to said hanger,

ing a guide-wheel secured to each end thereof, suitable bearings for the said shaft, and means for operating the said shaft causing thereby the lowering of the said guide-wheels, substantially as described.

' 2. The combination with a car, of a hangerV secured to the underface thereof, a splitfcollar, suitably connected to the said hanger, a shaft mounted in the said collarand having a a shaft mounted 1n tnje said ar andha'v; ing a pair of guide-.wheelssuitably-arranged thereon, a pair ofv bearngssferthesad shaft,- a follower arrangedin each ofthesaid bearings, a springmountedin the and adapted to engage thesai y eccentric adapted toI engage the. for 'lowering `the said shaft,1neansconnected to the said eccentric. for operating thesame, and means arranged in eachof the said bearingsfor limit-ing` the;r movement -of the said `Ishaft, substantially as described.; i j

`6. The combination with'a car, of'ahanger securedfto the under face thereof, a split collar pivotally connected tothe saidhanger, a shaft mounted inthe saidcollarand having` a pair of guide-wheels suitably arranged thereoma pair of bearings for the said shaft, afollower arranged in each of the said bearings, a spring mountedin. the lsaid bearings and adapted to engage the said follower, an eccentric adapted vto engage the said spring for lowering the said shaft, means connected to l'the said ,eccentric for operating the same, means connected tothe said bearings for limiting the movement of the said shaft,sub

stantially as described.

7. The combination with a car, of a shaft pivotally connected tov theunder face thereof, and having a pair of guide-wheels suitably arranged thereon, a kpair of bearings for the said shaft, a spring-actuated follower plate pair of guide-wheels suitably arranged therefor lowering the said shaft, means arranged IIS 648,470 Y Si in the said bearings for operating the said follower-plate, an operating-rod suitably connected to said means for operating the same,

nected to said means for operating the same, and suitable operating means for thesaid rod, and means arranged in the said bearings for limiting the movement of the said shaft, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.

HERBERT M. UNDERWOOD. CYRUS J. UNDERWOOD.

Vitnesses:

JOHN NOLAND, H. C. EVERT.- 

